The Philippines’ first Nobel Prize winner, Maria Ressa, met a small group of Filipino artists, writers, activists and academics in London on Saturday, 19 November, to launch her latest book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator. She said this was her first UK event to promote the book.
Wearing a black Rappler hoodie, dark blue shirt and a pair of black trousers and trainers, Ms Ressa said that journalism in the Philippines has always been imbued with activism. Many Filipino journalists critical of the Marcos dictatorship disappeared or were arrested during his 20-year term.
Describing her book as “slightly memoir-ish,” the Rappler co-founder and CEO talked about the state of democracy not only in the Philippines but around the world and the role of technology companies such as Facebook in enabling the spread of lies and the stifling of free speech.
“As it stands today, 60 percent of the world lives under autocratic rule. We’ve rolled back the number of democracies to 1989 levels,” she said.
Ms Ressa said that Rappler has documented how lies have spread faster than the truth in the Philippines. But the question she posed to the audience was this: “What kind of society do we create if we reward the lies?”
“Be a pillar of your community”
The audience then asked her what they can do to help to which Ms Ressa replied: “Be a pillar of your community.”
“Start in your area of influence and we mesh this together because in the end, this is not just a Filipino problem. This is a global problem. And by the way, if I do go to jail, please do make a noise!” she said with a laugh. The audience laughed along with her.
But Ms Ressa faces the very real possibility of life imprisonment because of several charges she faces, including libel and tax evasion. Despite this, Ms Ressa vowed to continue doing her job.
“If we don’t (keep doing our jobs), where’s the next generation of journalists?”
After taking some questions from the audience, she proceeded to sign books and speak to the attendees.
The event was organised by award-winning Filipino writers Carla Montemayor and Candy Gourlay, and artist Joy Watford.
